Chapter 6: Wild Men and Wild Blades

Asha felt her heart leap into her throat. “What? Are you certain?”

She helped Oran to a pillar and peered down the mountain. Oran grabbed her arm and turned her toward him. “Asha, you must warn the bastion. I cannot run down fast enough.”

“I won’t leave you here to them!”

“I will hide upon the slopes,” he said. “You must be brave, Asha. There is no time. Now go!”

Asha nodded, squeezed his shoulder, then bolted down the mountainside. She skidded on the rocks, nearly sliding off her feet and tumbling down the hill. She scrabbled and caught herself, scraping her hands in the process. “Shor’s bones!” she cursed.

As she approached the guards, she yelled, “Reachmen, they are coming!”

They turned to look at her, blocking her as she reached the door. “What are you talking about, Asha,” one said. “Where is Oran? We know he went after you.”

“No time,” she gasped, “Reachmen. They are here right-”

The guard she was talking to received an arrow in the face and the second guard yelled as an arrow sprouted from his shoulder a second later. Asha had just enough wits to crouch and felt the breath of an arrow whizz over her head and hit the door. She turned to see the dark figures emerging from the treeline and running up the last slope of the hill to the door. She turned and fled, running through the doors and closing them with the wounded guard. He grimaced and held his shoulder, the arrow still protruding. “I’ll hold the door, get help!” he yelled.

Asha ran into the bastion, yelling at the top of her lungs. “Reachmen! The Reachmen are invading!”

Cries began to echo around her as people awoke. The tramp of heavy boots as the hunters and warriors rushed to get into gear. When she reached the main chamber, Rukil was there to meet her. He grabbed her roughly by the front of her shirt. “If you are lying to us, girl, I will flay you alive.”

“I’m not! I’m not! Listen!” she yelled, terrified.

The sounds of battle were beginning to echo within the halls of the bastion. The Reachmen had made their way into the mountain fortress. Rukil shoved her aside, yelling, “Get all hunters and warriors to the main chamber. We will hold them here!”

Asha crawled out of the way as hunters rushed to the upper chambers while the warriors joined Rukil at the bottom of the main chamber. They formed around him as the first Reachmen rushed into the bottom floor. They were dressed the same, wild men in fur clothes and bone armor and wild blades of iron, bone, and wood. With whoops and war cries, they ran screaming toward the Atmorans. “Stand firm!” yelled Rukil

He lifted his staff and his left hand sparked with white light. Frost curled around his fingers and he threw his hand out. A shard of ice flew from his hand and struck a Reachman in the chest, piercing through his furs and knocking him off his feet. He followed this up with a spray of frost, tiny shards of ice, and deadly cold wind, from his staff.

The Reachmen tried to dodge it but found themselves caught in its blast in such a confined space. They retreated into the tunnel from where they came. The Atmorans cheered, jeering at their foes as they retreated. Asha stood from her crouched position behind a bench, watching the enemy flee. Rukil waved his staff. “Fools, they return! Be ready. Hunters, prepare arrows!”

He was right. Renewed war cries came from the tunnel and the Reachmen once again swarmed out in greater numbers. Rukil sent two more shards of ice into the enemy, sending them flying. A hail of arrows rained down from the higher levels and the Reachmen began falling in droves. Yet still they came. Archer entered the room and fired at the hunters above. Asha screamed and ducked for cover as a hunter nearly fell on her from above. He convulsed in death throws, pierced through by three arrows. His bow was forgotten near his hand.

Asha grabbed it and took up the quiver of arrows at his side. She took careful aim and fired at a Reachman. Her aim was good, hitting his chest and sending him spinning. She took another arrow and hit a second Reachmen in the arm as he raised his weapon. Her third shot missed as a blast of frigid air hit the charging Reachmen. Rukil was throwing out cyclones of cold air and ice shards, turning the room frigid.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Screams came from above. Asha glanced up and saw the Reachmen had reached the second level and were fighting the hunters. The hunters retreated, fleeing from their positions as those caught by the Reachmen were butchered and tossed off the level to the central floor. “Fight, cowards!” yelled Rukil. “Fight!”

An arrow flew from the darkness and struck him in the shoulder. He screamed in pain and let out another cyclone of cold wind, blasting the Reachmen and warriors alike. The battle was no longer organized, Atmorans and Reachmen scrambling and fighting tooth and nail across the central chamber.

Asha pulled another arrow and fired at a Reachman fighting with an Atmoran. A warcry came from behind and she spun, drawing an arrow back as she did. A Reachman was almost upon her, weapon raised. She released her arrow and it went through his neck and out in a spray of blood. His companion behind him charged Asha and dodged the arrow she fired. He leaped on her, knife raised to strike her.

She fell backward, hitting the cold stone floor and dropping the bow. Asha pushed against the man's arm, struggling to hold back the knife as it descended slowly and inevitably toward her chest. She could smell the blood on him mixed with his sweat and his heavy weight pressed down on her, the tip of his blade inches from her. An ice spike from beyond her vision struck him in the back. He groaned in pain and collapsed onto her. He dropped his knife and flailed at his back. She scrambled out from under him and lifted herself, seeing the staff of Rukil pointed directly at her face.

She ducked again and a spray of spiked ice flew over her head and struck three Reachmen. They screamed and backpedaled furiously, clawing at the ice spikes sticking out of them. “Get out of my way, girl!” yelled Rukil.

Asha picked up her bow and strung another arrow. The warriors were now struggling, half of them dead and the rest backing toward the tunnels. Rukil turned on them. “Stand with me, warriors, or die. There is no other choice.”

The warrior backed up behind him and Asha joined them, finding herself in the front line. She slung the quiver of arrows around her waist and strung her bow. She didn’t plan on panicking this time. It would not be as it was with Wulfin. She would die before the Reachmen took her as a slave.

The Reachmen banded together across the room, the sounds of screams and combat still echoing from the halls around them. The main chamber, however, was eerily silent. A young woman, one of the many in the Reachmen horde, stepped out of the crowd. Her blond her was wild, tied into braids, and her clothes were the same leather and fur armor. She pointed an iron sword at Rukil and shouted, “The dragon priest will be mine, I swear to the gods of the wild.”

“Not if he is mine first, Gormlaith,” said a tall, pale man who was a full head taller.

Asha stared at her, confused. She looked to be no more than two years older than her. Yet this Gormlaith had a wild light in her eyes and a determined posture. She had already seen many battles and had lived a harsh life. Asha had never seen anyone quite like her before. She would have been impressed were this woman not trying to kill her and everyone around her. Rukil stepped forward, staff raised. “You think so, filth? Die!”

He lifted his staff and smashed it onto the ground, sending out a wave of swirling cold energy across the room. Many Reachmen were knocked off their feet and Rukil shouted, “Slay them, sons of Atmora!”

The warrior charged with Rukil. Asha lifted her bow and fired. The tall, pale man took her arrow in his side but didn’t seem to flinch. He pulled the arrow from his side, spattering his six-pack with blood, as he screamed in fury and lifted his two swords. He flipped an Atmoran over his head and flung him over his shoulder like a rag doll. Asha shot a second arrow and it hit him in the shoulder. He spotted where she came from and he pointed a sword at her, snapping the shaft of the arrow from his shoulder.

He charged at her, shoving past Atmorans who gave way to his considerable bulk. Asha felt the panic rise in her. She drew and fired a third arrow, hitting his chest. Still, he pressed forward. She rolled sideways as he took a swing at her. He aimed up and shot another arrow, hitting him in the thigh. He swung down again, striking stone as she spun away again. She continued to roll as he limped after her, swinging and cursing her with every miss.

Asha crashed into the back of Rukil’s legs and he swung around, shooting an ice spike into the Reachman. Asha fired a fourth arrow and it hit his chest along with a second ice spike. He stumbled backward, hung limply in a standing position for a moment, then crashed onto his back, dead.

Rukil roared in pain as a blade sliced him in the back. He swung his staff, nearly striking the girl, Gormlaith. She had snuck through the combat to reach him and now took a second swipe. It struck him in the chest and he backed away, gasping. “You…you wretch!”

Asha took aim and was about to release and hit Gormlaith when Rukil send his staff cracking down onto the earth again. This time, the hurricane of wind and ice shards that exploded out fill the chamber, sending Asha flying across the room and into the body of the giant dead Reachmen she and Rukil had just killed. She saw stars as her head struck the floor and she shook it to clear her vision.

Rukil was holding his chest, believing he had a moment of respite. Gormlaith had avoided his blast, though. She rose from the floor from where she had dropped and charged him. He looked up just in time, shot and ice spike, and sent a spray of ice shards from his staff. She rolled effortlessly beneath the attack and came up behind him. As he turned in alarm, she swiped her dagger across his neck. He choked, gurgled, and dropped his staff to clutch his neck. He fell to his knees, glaring up at his killer.

Gormlaith stood above him, her back to Asha, and said coldly, “Daedra take you.”

She kicked him over as the life left his eyes and Rukil, dragon priest of Shriekwind Bastion, crumpled to the ground. Gormlaith stood over his dead body, breathing heavily before turning to Asha who drew another arrow.

Asha now stood alone, facing this wild woman, the last of the survivors in the main chamber against a crowd of Reachmen.